


Numeral VII

by notearchiver



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Community: hp_darkarts, Gen, Mindfuck, Time Turner
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-07 08:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1117684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notearchiver/pseuds/notearchiver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time was never Hermione's friend. Now, it might just be her enemy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Numeral VII

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hp_darkarts 2013 Horror Fest.
> 
>  **Title:** Numeral VII  
>  **Author:** notearchiver  
>  **Rating:** G  
>  **Pairing(s)/Character(s):** Hermione  
>  **Word count:** 1,400  
>  **Warnings:** None  
>  **Disclaimer:** Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

\------

Time is making fools of us again. –Albus Dumbledore

**0**

_The glass case shattered behind her, Time-Turners falling to the ground, but she didn't look back. She ran, ducking around desks and carefully avoiding the bell-jar. The door was impossibly far away, and time was ticking, tick-tocking and rocking, falling and swirling in her wake—_

**I**

"—new Time-Turner, Miss. I call it the Time-Watcher" the young man says, nervously adjusting his glasses.

Hermione stares at the small device cradled in his hand. The old Time-Turners were shaped like hourglasses; this thing—she blinks, trying to focus her wavering vision—this thing is a miniature disk with Roman numerals circling the edge, another disk set inside it with a slight indent just big enough to fit the tip of her thumb by the _VII_. There is no sand-like substance, no shimmery quality, only a rotating circle.

"This is the answer to the Chambers-Knot question?" she asks incredulously. "The Unspeakables have spent seventeen years trying to figure out how to move through time without altering history and you—just three months out of Hogwarts—come up with a _spinning circle_ , Morgan?" Her voice rises in pitch.

Morgan winces. "See, Miss, Time doesn't work like it used to." He shrinks back at Hermione's glare. "What I mean is that those fancy Arithmantic equations you work with only operate in certain circumstances."

Pushing back her hair, Hermione leans against the desk behind her. She had meant to leave the Ministry early, Floo back to her flat and brew some type of head ache reliever, but the Unspeakables had sent her a memo saying they had solved the Chambers-Knot question.

Named after the two Unspeakables who had created the original Time-Turner, the Chambers-Knot question was the theory that a wizard could go back in time without changing the past provided that he never moved. Chambers and Knot conceived the Time-Turner, apparently carving Arithmantic equations and runes on stone before grinding it into the sand, just to find out that the device only worked you wanted to change the past. Now, with the Wars finally over, the Minister had formulated an inter-departmental task force to address the question. Why, Hermione didn't know, but she thought the problem would be challenging. If only she had known that the Experimental Potions Department's brewers would be so incorrigible! Undoubtedly, it was all Snape's fault, as the entire department was Slytherin.

Hermione rubs her eye, forcing the pounding to retreat. "You can stop with the 'Miss' stuff," she says tiredly, once more staring at the disk. "What is the problem with using Arithmancy?"

"Oh, Arithmancy isn't the problem—it's using _equations_ that is. You see, Arithmantic equations change, right?" He spreads his hands excitedly, and Hermione grits her teeth as the Time-Watcher swings wildly from its chain.

"Yes, yes, Caswell's Mutability Axiom. 'Insofar that a wizard has the power to re-order runes and numbers in an equation in order to find a probable future event, such a future event will exist for each possible change, precluding the existence of the event in the present, but allowing it to happen in the past, as the wizard has now established an alternate future, thus altering the equation.'"

"Right, so Caswell is saying that as equations change, the future changes, which changes the past, therefore changing which equation is used in the first place." Morgan smiles, cheeks smashing against his glasses, and Hermione taps her fingers on the desk, determined not to lose her professional demeanor. "The problem is, he takes it as a given that the present changes, and the Chambers-Knot question relies on the assumption that the present cannot change!"

Face flushed, Morgan fumbles with the chain of the Time-Watcher, before holding it up to the light. Once again, the inscribed _VII_ attracts her attention, and Hermione blinks as the light bounces off the indentation.

"Go on, Morgan."

"Okay, so I knew that if we used equations to build this," the Time-Watcher glints oddly, "the past would always change. So I used spells based on McTaggert's Second Principle."

"Time is a series of positions running from the far past through the near past to the present, and then from the present to the near future and the far future in such a way that there is a sustained order," Hermione recites, throat sore from talking all day. "I admit, that makes sense. How far back did you go?"

"Far back?" Morgan echoes.

**b**

"You did test it, right?"

He shakes his head quickly, skin paling and nose becoming vaguely distorted, almost flattening. His irises begin to glow red—

Hermione snatches the Time-Watcher from his hand and runs, nearly tripping on her robes. The closest door is across the room, and she has to get there. Ducking a flash of light, she crashes into a shelf and tumbles to the ground. A bell-jar lands on top of her arm and the glass shatters, slicing a harsh pattern of words into her arm. Black dots the edge of her vision, and she turns around just long enough to yell _Stupefy_ before scrambling to her feet and pulling open the door.

She manages to slam the door behind her before Voldemort reaches it, and watches as the circular room spins, a new door appearing in front of her.

" _Alohomora!_ " she shouts desperately. The door doesn't open, and she kicks it. Off balance, Hermione plunges forward and instinctively puts hands out. The Time-Watcher connects with the lock and there is a click before everything—

**c**

"You did test it, right?"

He shook his head slowly, freckles appearing on his skin and hair turning red—

Sighing, Hermione took the Time-Watcher from him. "Really, can't you ever do anything important by yourself? Sometimes I wonder…"

"I—I thought you should try it first."

"This isn't like _Alohomora_ ; I can't change your pronunciation and make it work."

"Wha—?"

Ron's question was cut off as Hermione looped the chain around their necks and placed her thumb on the indentation. There was a click before everything—

**a**

"You did test it, right?"

He shakes his head slowly, glasses sliding down his nose. "You're my superior. I thought you should decide what to do."

"Fine, give it here," Hermione says, snatching the Time-Watcher from Morgan's hand. She stares down at the disk, running her fingers over the smooth metal. It feels strangely familiar—almost warm, like the magic is recognizing her. Shaking her head, she throws the chain around her neck. "How much time is each numeral?"

"One hour," Morgan replies, biting his lip.

Hermione frowns. "One hour? How do you expect someone to go back years if one full rotation is twelve hours?"

"I didn't think it that was what it would be for."

"Well, we certainly aren't going to go to other department's meetings, so I don't see what a few hours would give us," she retorts, straightening the chain and placing her thumb on the indentation.

Looking uncertain, Morgan shuffles forward. "Look, I don't think you should try this. It's untested—it's—you could…"

Hermione presses down and turns the inner disk until the indent points at the _I_ , then releases her thumb. Nothing happens, and she is beginning to remove the chain when there is a click and everything fades to black.

**II**

"—blood pressure and heart rate are fine," the Healer will say, sticking his wand into his robes. "Physically, there is nothing wrong Miss Granger."

"Physically?"

"We are unable to determine her mental state right now, Mr Weasley."

"So what are you going to do to make her better?"

"At the moment, what Miss Granger needs is more time."

On the bed, Hermione will smile and clutch the chain around her neck.


End file.
